The Christian believer routinely experiences periods in their life referred to as a dark night of the soul. In such times a person feels as if God has left him or her alone and God has distanced himself from the individual in this period of liminality. It is considered to be a time of trial and testing which only afterwards is viewed as a period of growth and maturing in Christ. In this book, Daniel McGregor explores the Biblical foundation for this concept, as well as providing a historical...
Where is a good starting point for reading the Bible? Five scrolls constitute the second section of the third major division of the Hebrew bible. These are the Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Qohelet, and Esther. The Song, like the Psalms, is a key to our hearing of instruction. Ruth establishes the Moabite ancestry of David showing we must read about enemies more carefully. The music of the Lamentations moves us with four acrostic poems and a fifth poem of 22 verses of prayer to make new...
Many Christians have grown up with a very limited concept of «missions» and «missionaries.» In this view a missionary is a person who goes and preaches to lots of people, often in primitive lands, and explains the theology of the gospel. The natives are convinced and become Christians. Thus the gospel commission is fulfilled. Actual missions have not been carried out in this way very much. Missionaries are generally very aware of the personal aspect of their activities, and the importance of...
How can we discover the differing senses of Hebrew words in translation? The English to Hebrew section of this document shows in English alphabetical order which English word or words are associated with each Hebrew stem and the count of how many times this gloss is used. In the translator’s introduction, compromises, conundrums, and concord are discussed by example. Seven major domains have been chosen to help analyse the words of the text. The Names domain is assigned to all proper names....
What are the key experiences that have defined the traditional Seventh-day Adventist approach to hermeneutics? Veteran Seventh-day Adventist theologian and philosopher Edward W. H. Vick provides a brief answer to this question in this short book, with only 64 pages of text. Tracing the way interpretation was done starting with the Millerite movement in the 1840s, and working through the influence of Ellen G. White and others, Vick suggests that the hermeneutic used was self-confirming. Each...
Christian apologetics suffers from a reputation for loud arguments, canned answers, and a fascination with technical details. Some Christians avoid apologetics because they are either concerned about offending people, or because they are afraid they will be unable to answer technical questions. These concerns and fears are unnecessary. Elgin Hushbeck, Jr., unapologetic Christian apologist points the way toward a Christian witness that is positive, and is possible for everyone. In fact,...
It’s difficult to be a pilgrim in a consumer world. A pilgrim is someone who looks more toward the destination than his present place. A consumer sets up shop as he secures more to consume, and invests his time, resources, and energy into guaranteeing there will always be more to consume. In Luke 17:33 Jesus says, “If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.” Finding our pilgrim path is the focus of this book to prepare the reader for the mission...
When you hear the words «in the original text it says» or «in the original text this means,» it's time to be wary. Those words often provide the introduction to misleading information. But how can the hearer discern just what is correct and what is misleading? How can pastors avoid giving their congregations misleading information? "In the Original Text It Says" takes a look at word-study fallacies and how you can avoid them. Author Ben Baxter gives an introduction to word meaning...